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| Toby Scissor looks happy about it (pic by Jay) |
Monday, 14 March 2016
On Sonic Diary's Punk Show!
We've been featured on Sonic Diary's Punk Show on Salford City Radio! Alongside new tracks from our hero (and everyone's?) Iggy Pop, and loads of other cool stuff. Check it out on Mixcloud...
'Haunted Mirror' album launch reviewed in Cambridge Music Reviews
Big thanks to everyone who made Saturday's album launch such a great night! Mike Wright posted a lovely review in Cambridge Music Reviews, reproduced in full here:
"After ten years on the Cambridge music scene The Scissors release a new album, the grammatically challenging ‘The Scissors Is The Haunted Mirror’.
The four-piece promise ‘carnival freakshow organ, primitive synths, and rock’n’roll guitar powered psychpunkpop.’ and much of this manifesto is to be heard in show starter ‘Come With Me’, the opening track on the LP. In the week that Keith Emerson of ELP became the latest rocker to die in 2016, it was good to be reminded of the great Hammond organ sound as it pushed its way into the chorus of this punchy bass-driven song.
‘No Go The Lowdown’ is a rocker with a cryptic lyric and the clever effect of all instruments and voice sharing the hook line. We had a brief acoustic interlude featuring antique accordion and acoustic guitar for ‘Attack Of The Phantom Teardrops’ then ‘Phone Calls From The Dead’ and final track ‘Your House Has Ghosts’ are back to noisy pop-rock. Best of all is the slow-burner blues of ‘Why Don’t You Cry’, with theremin textures (always fascinating to watch), guitar fireworks and the vocals from Stewart Harris making the most of the straight to the heart melody.
It was a good advert for the album (although I would have liked to hear the keyboard rushes and emotional turmoil hidden behind the title of of ‘Don’t Hate Me Just Because I’m Yours’).
Their free lyric sheet proclaimed it was ‘a phantasmagorical entertainment to thrill and beguile the senses…’, they certainly proved again that they are one of the best live bands in Cambridge."
"After ten years on the Cambridge music scene The Scissors release a new album, the grammatically challenging ‘The Scissors Is The Haunted Mirror’.
The four-piece promise ‘carnival freakshow organ, primitive synths, and rock’n’roll guitar powered psychpunkpop.’ and much of this manifesto is to be heard in show starter ‘Come With Me’, the opening track on the LP. In the week that Keith Emerson of ELP became the latest rocker to die in 2016, it was good to be reminded of the great Hammond organ sound as it pushed its way into the chorus of this punchy bass-driven song.
‘No Go The Lowdown’ is a rocker with a cryptic lyric and the clever effect of all instruments and voice sharing the hook line. We had a brief acoustic interlude featuring antique accordion and acoustic guitar for ‘Attack Of The Phantom Teardrops’ then ‘Phone Calls From The Dead’ and final track ‘Your House Has Ghosts’ are back to noisy pop-rock. Best of all is the slow-burner blues of ‘Why Don’t You Cry’, with theremin textures (always fascinating to watch), guitar fireworks and the vocals from Stewart Harris making the most of the straight to the heart melody.
It was a good advert for the album (although I would have liked to hear the keyboard rushes and emotional turmoil hidden behind the title of of ‘Don’t Hate Me Just Because I’m Yours’).
Their free lyric sheet proclaimed it was ‘a phantasmagorical entertainment to thrill and beguile the senses…’, they certainly proved again that they are one of the best live bands in Cambridge."
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| Pic by Jay |
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| Pic by Jay |
Wednesday, 9 March 2016
Looking to listen?
Our new album will be available in just a couple of days (Friday 11 March!), and you'll be able to get it digitally from German Shepherd Records' BandCamp page, on the 'Music' tab above (or indeed from most of the usual online outlets)!
Our older records are still available via our own self-release BandCamp page, which is linked to further down the page.
So just for a couple of days, the 'Music' tab only takes you to the pre-order page (where you can hear a preview of 'No go the lowdown')! But from Friday, you'll be able to hear the whole album on there. Hope that makes sense!
Happy listening!
Our older records are still available via our own self-release BandCamp page, which is linked to further down the page.
So just for a couple of days, the 'Music' tab only takes you to the pre-order page (where you can hear a preview of 'No go the lowdown')! But from Friday, you'll be able to hear the whole album on there. Hope that makes sense!
Happy listening!
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Pre-order 'Haunted Mirror' album, get 'No go the lowdown' track now
You can now pre-order our new album from German Shepherd Records - and when you do you'll get 'No go the lowdown' to enjoy in advance!
Friday, 26 February 2016
What to expect from the new Scissors album?
Here's a lovely piece on our forthcoming album from Bob's Aural Delights!
'The eleven track set grabs the attention
from the get go with a thumping bass and drum combination, surging
Hammond and searing guitars and excellent call and response vocals.
“Come With Me” is a great opener, followed by the exceedingly catchy “No
go the lowdown” which echoes classic british pop-rock with a tinge of
urban blues and a smattering of soul in the vocals, and a killer hook.
This band is all about textures and layers and the visceral guitar
tones of “Don’t Hate Just Because I’m Yours” introduce another memorable
melody, which promises to be a real crowd pleaser with it’s more-ish
chorus. The band keep the songs short and to the point, perfect little
nuggets of modern music. After the up tempo start matters slow down for
the more restrained “All These Things” which is notable for Simon Powell’s
sonic explorations and busy drums from Wallace. The punky motorik “I’m
Not The Real Me” perhaps sums up the unique qualities of the band,
conjuring a maelstrom of different sounds into a melange of psychedelic
pop. The album title track is a tight little tune with a ska feel, great
organ sounds, and tasty pop elements and a tidy guitar solo. “Phones
Calls from the Dead” has another killer guitar hook, pumping bass and
great changes echoing Zappa at his most playful. Gritty picked guitar
opens the blues drenched “Why Don’t You Cry” which comes across like the
mutant offspring of “House of the Rising Sun”, nice soloing from
Lefever, combined with some great feedback control make this the stand
out track for the guitarist. “Sjhake” – I should have asked them what
the added “J” was for, but I forgot, is a tasty portion of blue-eyed
soul-rock.”Come With Me” reprises in a jam-like free improv way before
morphing back into the main song. The album closes with ambient sounds
and the measured “Attack Of The Phantom Teardrops” which takes a deep
emotional breath after a such a busy and impressive selection.
A highly recommended second album release from a great band.'
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Listen again to our Stagger Indie show appearance
You can catch our unplugged (and unwashed) appearance on Monday's Stagger Indie Cambridge 105 show on Mixcloud!
We played two songs live and acoustic in the studio, 'Haunted Mirror' (about 30 minutes in) and 'Attack of the Phantom Teardrops' (about 40 minutes in), plus some tracks from the album and other things we brought along...
We played two songs live and acoustic in the studio, 'Haunted Mirror' (about 30 minutes in) and 'Attack of the Phantom Teardrops' (about 40 minutes in), plus some tracks from the album and other things we brought along...
Thursday, 18 February 2016
Rubber Dux farewell
We're thrilled to have Cambridge's Rubber Dux play with us at our album launch gig on 12 March - but sadly it'll also be their farewell performance as they go their separate ways to do Other Things...
Let's make it a cracking sendoff for them - and here's a reminder of what they sound like:
Let's make it a cracking sendoff for them - and here's a reminder of what they sound like:
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